OK, so this might be a little harder than I thought...

Whoever said swimming laps in the pool would prepare me for open water swimming lied. Oh wait... I said that :(  Well, I'm a big girl. I can admit when I'm wrong (on those rare occasions that I am wrong). Swimming in the pool does not truly prepare you for open water swimming. The only thing that prepares you for open water swimming is to SWIM IN THE OPEN WATER! Which is what I did today. And after doing it I realize that there is a really good chance Swim Miami might eat me alive next week. It's possible highly probable that I don't have an "open water personality" (I really wish I had seen this before I registered for the event)...

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I decided take Kai to the beach today and met up with my friend Giselle and her little girl. It was a great "girls day" of hanging out and catching up on the latest happenings in our lives.
Beach selfie...

Giselle was supposed to be my Swim Miami partner-in-crime. Since we both swim I convinced her to sign up for the 1 mile swim with me months ago...

But now Giselle has a work conflict so she is leaving me to die in the water complete the event on my own :( Fortunately other people from my running group also swim and will be participating so there will be people who know me present to throw me a life vest should (when?) I need it. 

I'm feeling less confident about it can you tell? Well, it's not without good reason... After tanning and talking, Giselle and I took turns going swimming with the girls. When I went with them I told Kai I was going to try and "swim out a bit farther and then head back in". I didn't get very far. It's hard swimming against the waves (for obvious reasons) and then, just when I thought I swam a significant distance, I stopped to tread water and realized that I could still stand up! I hadn't gone very far at all!!! I turned around and sure enough Kai was still visible behind me (probably wondering why I hadn't moved much). And what made it worse was the fact that I was exhausted! I barely swam 100 meters and my arms were aching :( I can only hope that the waves aren't as rough next week.

Tomorrow I head back to the beach but I will be running (not swimming). I'm going to focus on my current goal of improving my form and getting my legs accustomed to a more efficient gait. I'm trying not to get too focused on pace (I know I will need to remind myself of that again tomorrow), but rather to concentrate on foot strike and cadence for 0.5-1 mile at a time :) 

How was your Saturday?

Do you prefer to swim in the pool or open water?

Would you rather spend a day at the beach with really rough waves or a day at the pool with way too much chlorine in the water?